Suspect killed from multiple gunshot wounds, officer OK after both transported to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah

Jasper County Sheriff deputies and the Hardeeville Police Department responded to a hostage situation on the morning ofJuly 20, 2016 at Hardeeville's Dollar General. The suspect is reported as dead. A Jasper County Sheriff’s Office deputy was wounded with a non-life threatening injury.
Delayna Earleydearley@islandpacket.com

The suspect in a hostage situation at a Dollar General store in Hardeeville died of multiple gunshot wounds Monday morning following the incident that injured a Jasper County Sheriff’s Office deputy.

The deputy, Dan Morgan, was responding to an armed robbery shortly after 8 a.m. this morning, according to town of Hardeeville spokesperson Juan Singleton.

“We had received a tip that somebody saw a masked gunman going into the (Dollar General at 20751 Whyte Hardee Blvd.) and dispatched officers to the scene,” Singleton said.

Map: Dollar General, Hardeeville

A hostage situation ensued in which the gunman took a clerk hostage, he said. Then there was an exchange of gunfire.

“One of the sheriff’s officers was struck in the foot and transported to (Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah),” Singleton said. “The latest we have is that he’s OK — he’s shaken up a bit, but he’s OK.”

The suspect also was transported to the hospital, Singleton said.

Jasper County Coroner Martin Sauls III said the suspect died of multiple gunshot wounds “all over his body,” and that deputies are taking his fingerprints in order to identify him.

The clerk who was taken hostage was “shaken up,” Singleton said, adding she might have twisted her ankle when she fled the store.

Singleton said the incident happened inside city limits and, because it was a hostage situation, both the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office and the Hardeeville Police Department responded.